Artifactual Journey

Author: Artifactual Journey

The Artifactual Journey podcast is a discussion about African American artifacts from the Nanny Jack & Co Archives, history, and a lively conversation with a different guest in each episode. The podcast is created and produced by Nanny Jack & Co., an African American heritage consulting firm. Host: Philip J. Merrill; Editor & Producer: Veronica A. Carr; Music Producer: Noah Zafer Sommer.
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Language: en

Genres: History

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Under The Stage Lights: Rediscovering Andrew S. Bishop
Episode 1
Monday, 25 May, 2026

In this episode, we step back into the footlights of early 20th century Black theatre and film to rediscover Andrew Stevens Bishop, a gifted stage actor and Oscar Micheaux film performers whose legacy has slipped into the shadows. Guided by a rare crayon portraiture and an equally rare real photo postcard from the Nanny Jack & Co Archives, we trace Bishop's journey across touring circuits, silent film sets, and the wider Bishop family lineage. This is a story of artistry, migration, and memory, illuminated once more under the stage lights. Research for this podcast was gleaned from the following sources: Aristocrats of Color: The Black Elite, 1880-1920 by Willard Gatewood (1990)Finding Charity's Folk: Enslaved and Free Black Women in Maryland by Jessica Millward (2015)A History of African American Theatre by Errol G. Hill and James Vernon Hatch (2003) Oscar Micheaux and His Circle: African American Filmmaking and Race Cinema of the Silent Era, edited by Charles Musser, Jane Marie Gaines, and Pearl Bowser (2016) Blacks in Black and White: A Source Book on Black Films by Henry T. Sampson (1995) Whiting Up: Whiteface Minstrels and Stage Europeans in African American Performance by Marvin McAllister (2011) To support the Artifactual Journey podcast, please subscribe through our Buy Me A Coffee page: Artifactual Journey is Podcasting